Oil change advice

Seeking some advice from the experts...our 2009 Cayman (non-S) has only 3,000 miles, and the car's build date was 13 months ago (it sat on the dealer lot for some time before we found our "match"). We know, we haven't put enough miles on this incredible machine! Since the oil change maintenance schedule recommends it (x miles or no longer than 12 months), should we go ahead and perform the oil change? We've pretty much already decided to do it since we plan on keeping the car for a long time, but just wanted to get others' opinions, technical or otherwise. Thanks in advance!

I'm in the same boat for my 2008 model year S. I got the dashboard message for "service within 30 days" (or something like that). I have nearly 5000 miles in my 6 months of ownership since buying new. Are there any other things I should have the dealer do? I was hoping they could turn off the annoying "fasten seatbelt" chime. I really don't see the point of buckling when I just want to check the oil level or tire pressure when the car is not running and has the parking brake set and is sitting in the garage with the garage door closed.

At the two year mark (regardless of mileage) there's the issue of replacing the brake fluid, since over time it slowly turns to water. Something we'll likely look forward to when we get there too.

Not sure I am an expert, on my 2009 Cayman I changed oil around 2500 miles...I know about the factory 10K, 2 year stuff....on the other hand they only have to warrant for 4 years, 50K....I plan to keep the car longer...thus as with all my prior cars I changed the oil early on and then every 5-8K (using Mobil1) never had to do any engine work...having been there when oil was changed....I am glad I did that....looked very dark, the filter caught some ****....which I didn't want in my engine....but this is my preference...in the future I will likely change oil more often than MIN factory recommendations....so I guess some of my thoughts depend upon your long term plans...keep it...change oil more often...sell it early and do factory min rec....just my thoughts....if factory had longer warranty I might be more comfortable with their interval change policies being based upon engineering versus a marketing programs for americans

I purchased my '07 "S" as a certified used Porsche with 18,000 miles. I'm assuming that the certification 100+ point inspection should cover the 20,000mi checkup. The oils was also changed as part of that process so will I get a dash light at 20,000mi?

Also no expert, but I believe in the recommendations of the manufacturer. They have no interest in seeing their products fail immediately after the warranty is up. As someone who has always changed his oil and filter more frequently than recommended, it is hard for me to accept a 20,000 mile oil change interval. BUTT (and that's a big butt), my mechanic says it's all about synthetic lubricants and the tolerances of modern engines. If I read Porsche literature correctly, they are saying change your oil every 2 years, or 20,000 miles, whichever comes sooner. I bought my 2006 Boxster S at 44,000 miles and changed the oil at 47,000 even though the oil looked relatively clean because I couldn't ascertain exactly when it had been changed last, despite the records that it had been through the routine maintenance schedule. That being said, I'll prob'ly change the oil and filter every year or every 10,000 - 15,000 miles, whichever comes first. BTW... I LOVE this car.

I've had my car since August of last year, have about 7k miles and haven't done an oil change. I thought that they recommended 1 year.

IIRC they started at 2 years or 20K miles and dropped that to 1 year or 10K miles for '08.

They went from 20k to 1 year/12k in '08. From some of the posts above, it sounds like they might have gone back to 20k for the '09's. Can someone confirm this? It would be interesting information. As for an early oil change, say 2,000 miles or so, that is the old school way of doing it. Me? I'm still old school in this area. The manual and the dealers and the factory all say no need to change it before the first scheduled change. One of the experts in the PCA magazine (Reiser?) recommends an early change, but he is a bit old school. Someone else said you need to keep the original oil in there for the full OCI, as the tiny metallic grit in the oil helps with break-in. I'm not sure I buy this. Gather all of this kind of information, and then make a decision for yourself: is the cost of a possibly wasted oil change worth the peace of mind and probably non-existent increase in engine longevity? For me, it is, for someone else, maybe not. But then again, I spoil my cars. Do you want to spoil yours?

Oil change for 2009 is 10,000...at least according to my information. As to early oil change...it may be old school but from many years of driving "nice" cars I think it has help then to run a long time without major problems....seems to me cheap insurance for a Porsche investment... When I owned my AMG MB touted their "flexible service" indicator...claiming up to 15K miles between services....until they lost a class action law suit and had to replace alot of V8 engines....it would be nice to know if long maintenace intervals are determined by marketing or engineering....on my AMG MB claimed to have "life time" transmission fluid...I was lucky enough to have a trans sensor fail...so MB dropped the pan...had to change the fluid...the fluid was black, very dirty in the view of the mechanic....God knows what it would have looked like or done to the tranny over 100,000...I sold the car at 150,000 with no engine or trans problems...

Years ago, late 80's to early 90's if my memory does not fail me, Consumer Reports performed what I thought was a good scientific study in which they used a number of New York city cabs. I think there were 50 or so, they used GM 6 cylinder engines,which they disassembled and measured tolerances and dimensions, new engines, and then they went approx. 50,000 miles total mileage, changing the oil at 3000, 6000, and 14,000 mile intervals, they used commonly available regular oil brands and synthetics as per manufacturer recommendations. At the end of the study (50,000 mi.) they disassembled the engines and they checked for manufacturer tolerances and compared the original measurements to the post test numbers. They found that whether you used commercially available synthetics or regular oil there was no difference in their numbers on the engines which had been serviced at 3k and 6k miles. At 14K intervals there was measurable wear but it was "minor" ,I believe was the expression they used. Ever since I change oil in my cars and Motorcycle at intervals of between 6k and 7k , no matter to what the manufacturer claims (or one year intervals). One big exception I made was a '93 twin turbo Supra. I changed the oil on that car at 3k , with Synthetic oil. That car I traded in at 95,000 miles on the odometer. The buyer, swapped the twin turbo, for a single racing Turbo and added a racing head at 145,000 miles. The old parts were still functioning well ,and were saved. Hope this helps. Cheers.

I'll confirm that for 2009, according to the manual, Porsche recommends 12month/10,000 mile oil change intervals.

Here's my 2 cents. Yes, the cars use synthetic oil and yes they have filters...but, the most wear on your engine occurs during the first 1,000 miles. Therefore, I change my oil on every car after the first 1K miles. It is a cheap thing to do to keep your engine in tip top shape. I would just do it. I would not take it to the dealer, it is easy to do and will cost you less than $100.

My car sat at the dealer unsold for 7 months before I picked it up. I got the service warning light four months into ownership (3K miles), called the dealer and was told to bring it back a year from when I picked it up. (I put about 7-8K mi/year on the pcar.) Like you I thought about doing it as I plan to keep this one awhile but they said it wasn't necessary. BTW, I just had the 1yr service done - $480. It would have cost $550, but I had a 20% discount on parts coupon.

I had my oil change 12 months in at around 4000 miles. It was pretty stiff $179 after discount coupons to change it but it was well worth it to get on the dealer mailing coupon list and get in good with the maintenance shop. I had my oil changed again (and brake flush) last weekend at 2yr 8300 miles during a maintenance event at the same dealer and they gave me a coupon for $99 for the oil change, and $150 for the bleed. Still high, but i got free food, a porsche stamp and the safety inspection and peace of mind. If you're in SoCal, Pacific porsche has these coupons for really cheap maintenance until 4/15. You got two weeks!